Yahoo turned in another lackluster performance in the second quarter, while Intel says the weak global economy is slowing its growth. Earlier, Microsoft warned of a non-cash charge because of disappointing performance in its online ad business. AMD lowered its revenue forecast.
Technology companies are starting to issue their quarterly earnings reports.
Here is a summary of recent earnings and reports for selected technology companies and what they reveal about the state of spending and the overall economy:
- July 2: Microsoft Corp. says it is absorbing a $6.2 billion charge to reflect that one of the biggest deals in its 37-year history, for online ad company aQuantive, turned out to be a dud. The non-cash charge could saddle Microsoft with a loss for the latest quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had predicted Microsoft would earn about $5.3 billion for the period. The company hasn't suffered a quarterly loss during the past 20 years.
- July 6: Samsung Electronics Co. estimates its second-quarter operating profit at 6.5 trillion won to 6.9 trillion won ($5.7 billion to $6.1 billion), a 79 percent jump from a year earlier based on the midpoint of that range. Analysts say the sharp rise in operating profit was driven by the success of its Galaxy line of smartphones. However, Samsung's stock fell as lower-than-expected overall sales underlined the threat from Europe's economic malaise.
- July 9: Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. lowers its quarterly forecast, blaming weaker-than-expected sales in China and Europe and lackluster demand overall from consumers. AMD says it expects revenue to fall by 11 percent from the previous quarter, below its earlier forecast of a 3 percent decline.
- July 10: BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. asks disgruntled investors at a shareholders meeting for patience as it develops new devices to rival the iPhone and Android smartphones. The company reiterates a warning that the next several quarters will be challenging. It also expects to book another operating loss in the current quarter as the company cuts prices to sell its older BlackBerry models.
- Tuesday: Yahoo Inc. reports another lackluster quarter on CEO Marissa Mayer's first day on the job. It continues years of financial lethargy that has plagued the one-time Internet pioneer as Google and Facebook have prospered. Net income fell 4 percent from a year ago, and adjusted earnings were short of expectations.
Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, says revenue for the current quarter is likely to come in below Wall Street forecasts as it blames "a more challenging macroeconomic environment."
Coming up:
- Wednesday: IBM Corp., eBay Inc.
- Thursday: Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Verizon Communications Inc.
- July 24: Apple Inc., AT&T Inc., Netflix Inc.
- July 25: Zynga Inc.
- July 26: Facebook Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., Amazon.com Inc.
- July 27: Samsung Electronics Co.
- Aug. 1: Comcast Corp.
- Aug. 2: Sony Corp., LinkedIn Corp.
- Aug. 15: Cisco Systems Inc.
- Aug. 21: Dell Inc.
- Aug. 22: Hewlett-Packard Co.
- Sept. 27: Research in Motion Ltd.